Movie Review: "Until the End of the World"
This movie has a very interesting plot, and a good script. Its three hours, but you will not be bored. It is a very intriguing and artistic film featuring Sam Neill and William Hurt. I really don't know why I haven't seen it before. I have really been missing out.
Plot: Hmm, where do I start? At the beginning? I see, First off, there is this rogue satellite that is threatening to crash down into the Earth, destroying the planet. Then there is Claire, Solveig Dommartin. We begin with her partying and then she is driving along on the highway where she crashes into a bank robber's car. They offer her 30% to take the cash to Paris. Along the way she picks up a hitchhiker, Trevor (William Hurt), who steals some of her money. She becomes intrigued with the man and follows him around the world with the help of her boyfriend (Gene - Sam Neill) and a bounty hunter (Winter - Rüdiger Vogler). Trevor is a hunted man whose bounty is worth half a million dollars. He has stolen a device from the US government that allows you to record things that can be transferred into the brains of blind people. She longs to know what he is up to and why. She finally catches up to him (right at the time when the US uses a nuclear blast to bring down the satellite, killing all electronic devices, somehow the camera is unaffected) and he explains that his father invented the camera and he is taking pictures for his blind mother to see. Claire helps him and they end up in the middle of Australia trying to make the camera work and transfer the images to his mother. They eventually get the camera to work, and then Trevor's father decides he wants to record dreams. They get this to work as well and they all become addicted to their dreams. All the while, Gene is writing the story on a typewriter. Gene comes to rescue Claire from her dreams but will he be successful? And has the world come to an end from the deadly nuclear blast that took care of the rogue satellite? I am not giving away the ending.
This is one of those films that is more about the journey than it is ending. What a wonderful journey it turns out to be. The futuristic look is one that is more an artistic view rather than a hard-core, sterile sci-fi type of future. I loved the look of some of the technology, cities, and the dress of the people. Although, I don't think they changed the future enough, but I gather this was not an extremely high budget film, so they had to work with what they had. I love the way Claire becomes more human and beautiful the farther she gets away from the futuristic technology and closer to the Earth, its very spiritual in an artsy kind of way.
I found the plot to be captivating and the dialogue to be interesting although the detective was reminiscent of the old detectives from the film noir era (this film has it "film noir-like" moments). Claire is soft spoken, and curious, her boyfriend extremely accepting. The dialogue didn't seem out of place or stilted. I hardly felt the three hours go by. It also has an interesting artsy soundtrack featuring U2 and Peter Gabriel. None of the music seemed out of place—it went perfectly with the scenes in the film.
The acting is excellent. Solveig Dommartin is excellent as the free spirited Claire who follows this guy on a "Dance Around the World” on a whim as if she was bored of her life and felt the need to embark on another (aren't we all so moved?). She is soft-spoken, smart, and whimsical but has a depth and a deep caring for those around her that you can feel through the film. William Hurt is excellent as the mysterious, trench-coated, Trevor (or Sam). He is quiet, slippery man, Claire finds him several times only to lose him. He deeply cares about his mother and his father continues to frustrate him. Sam Neill is great as Gene the writer (he just looks like a writer), who is very accepting of the way Claire is, he continues to wait for and love her through out the film). His voice actually overlays/narrates sections of the film he does this very well as well. I really enjoyed his character. He is so calm and accepting. Winter, Rüdiger Vogler, is a great character as well he is the perfect film noir detective. Trevor's mother, Christine Osterlein, is great as well her face betrays the sorrow she feels as seeing her world altered after so many years in the darkness. And his Father, Ernest Berk, is the perfect scientist who is so involved in his work that he misses the life going on around him. I thought all the acting well done.
Warning! There is some nudity in this film. So I would not suggest it for children.
I loved this film. This is a journey that you need to experience for yourself. Watch it when you are in the mood to see a movie that you have to think about.